Obama: 'We've got to do some governing'

2/25/13 12:04 PM EST

President Obama urged compromise Monday as he pushed congressional Republicans to reach an agreement to avoid big spending cuts due to take effect at the end of the week.

"There are always going to be some areas where we have genuine disagreement ... but there are more areas where we can do a lot more cooperating than we have seen in the past couple years," Obama told a meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House.

"At some point, we've got to do some governing. And, certainly, we can't keep careening from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis."

Turning to sequestration, Obama turned his appeal to Republicans, who the administration wants to see agree to revenue-raising measures.

"These cuts do not have to happen," he said. "Congress can turn them off anytime with just a little bit of compromise."

"To do so, Democrats -- like me -- need to acknowledge that we're going to have to make modest reforms in Medicare if we want the program there for future generations" and to keep funding education, research and infrastructure, he said. "I've made that commitment" in budget proposals.

But there needs to be some give from Republicans, too, he said. The party's members "need to adopt the same approach to tax reform that Speaker Boehner championed just two months ago."

"I know that sometimes folks in Congress think that compromise is a bad word and they figure they'll pay a higher price at the polls for working with the other side than standing pat or engaging in obstructionism," Obama told the governors. But governors understand the notion of bipartisan cooperation, he said, noting that Govs. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.) and Bill Haslam (R-Tenn.) have worked across the aisle to pass key legislation.

Obama noted that infrastructure repair has long been a bipartisan issue and should be a "no-brainer," but expressed frustration that Republicans in Washington have blocked his proposals to fund construction.

For states, one big burden for infrastructure is "red tape, and oftentimes that comes out of Washington with regulations," Obama said. To help states, the administration is establishing regional teams focused on "unique needs" in various parts of the country, including clean energy in the Pacific Northwest and high-speed rail along the Northeast Corridor.

The president also praised several governors for prioritizing early childhood education, as he mentioned his own proposal for all children to have access to "high-quality" pre-school.